The Perpetual Motion Machine is a collection of creative nonfiction essays about the author and her brother as they have experienced growing up both together and then apart throughout the years of their lives. The essays deal with the pair’s childhood, adolescence and adulthood as well as the issues of depression, anxiety and drug addiction. Some pieces are flash-style and others are longer works of lyric essay or general narrative. The pieces can both stand alone and work to create a larger, substantial narrative on how drug addiction affects an entire family, one’s whole world, thus telling a story about how the author must find herself through investigating her brother’s trials and tribulations with addiction. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study explored the experiences of members of an OCD support group, utilising a qualitative design, social constructionist approach, and a systemic framework. Participants were obtained through purposive sampling; data was collected via faceto- face semi-structured interviews with four participants. It emerged that these participants attended two OCD support groups (initial support group and sub-support group). The participants’ experiences were analysed using thematic analysis. Major findings: the participants’ motivation to attend both support groups was to reduce their OCD symptoms and improve functioning. The initial support group was a professional-led psychoeducational support group while the sub-support group was a self-help psychotherapeutic group. The groups also complemented each other with information from the initial support group being implemented in the sub-support group. The participants reported to have benefitted from participation in both support groups as their OCD symptoms reduced and their daily functioning improved. Recommendations for future research were discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)